🏮 Kozagawa Mifune Matsuri

古座川御舟祭

Kushimoto, Wakayama (Koza Fishing Port) · Every year on 24 July

Traditional performing arts

313 days to go
Rooms around Kushimoto, Wakayama fill up while the festival is on.

The Kochi Festival, held on the Koza River where it flows through Kushimoto Town and Kozagawa Town in Wakayama Prefecture, is the annual festival of Koza Shrine. The shrine, whose deity resides on Kochi Island about 3 kilometers upstream from the river mouth, is served by five districts in the lower basin (Koza, Furuta, Takaike, Utsugi, and Tsukinose), and the boat procession on the water, designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property, is performed there. On the afternoon of the eve of the festival, a boat carrying the shrine plaque of Kochi Daimyojin, the deity enshrined at the shrine, departs from Koza Fishing Port in Koza, Kushimoto Town, and heads for Kochi Island adorned with colorful decorations. In the evening, male students of Koza Junior High School hold a rowing boat race, and in the night ritual after sunset, boats lit with lanterns circle the island, their lights swaying on the water and creating a haunting atmosphere. On the main festival day, the main boat departs carrying the living deity figure Shorou, which is borne by local elementary school students, and rituals are held on the riverbank along with a lion dance offered by the Koza Youth Association and others. After the flower procession on the island and the rowing boat race, a fireworks display is held at night, with colorful lights and the boats together bringing the festival to a close.

Getting there

The venue of the Kozagawa Ofune Festival is in the area around the Koza River in Furuta, Kushimoto Town, Wakayama Prefecture. The nearest station is Koza Station on the JR Kisei Main Line. It is about a 10-minute walk from the station to the venue.